USC
Reflecting on Your Teaching
Introduction to Chemical Engineering
(and Nanotechnology) at USC
C. Ted Lee, Jr.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science
February 21, 2007
USC
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Outline
Industries ChE grads serve
Macroscopic vs. Molecular approach
Courses students take
Specializing in a particular area (emphasis)
Nanotechnology
“Degree Projects”
“Chemical Engineering education is at a crossroads. There is a disconnect between the curriculum
(which is largely focused on unit operations, e.g., heat exchangers, distillation columns, etc., and
heavily geared towards commodity chemicals) and faculty research (which has recently emphasized
nano- and bio-technology). Furthermore, there is a disparity between the courses students take and the
diversity of industries they will serve (only about 25% of graduates go to work in the chemical industry,
while the biotech, food, fuels, and electronics industries continue to aggressively hire ChE graduates).”
From: NSF-DUE-0633372 “A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education”, PI: C. Ted Lee
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After graduation, where does a ChE work?
Only about a quarter of ChE grads go to work in the chemical industry
Many of our recent graduates have gone to work in new and emerging
areas of importance
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Who’s Hiring?
(USC ENGINEERING CAREER FAIR - October 12, 2006
Over 25 companies actively recruiting ChE/PTE/MASC graduates (class size ~ 20)
Abbott Vascular
Aerospace Corporation
Boeing Company
Central Intelligence Agency
CH2M Hill
Deloitte Consulting
Ecmtek, Inc.
Eler & Kanlinowski
Energy Corporation of America
ENVIRON International Company
ExxonMobil
Honeywell International
Intel Corporation
KPMG
L-3 Communications- Electron Tech.
Lam Research
Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab.
Micron Technology, Inc.
MicroStrategy
State Water Res. Control Board
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Valero Energy Corporation
WorleyParsons
Xerox Corporation
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Macroscopic vs. Molecular
The bio/nano emphasis of research will likely result in new
technologies, which will lead to an even greater number of graduates
working in “nontraditional” enterprises
So how then can the faculty continue to prepare highly-qualified
students for today’s changing workplace? macroscopic  molecular
Chemical engineering is uniquely positioned between molecular
sciences and engineering
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What courses do students take?
ChE 120 – Introduction to Chemical Engineering
– conservation of mass and energy
ChE 330 – Thermodynamics
– thermo (heat), dynamics (flow)
ChE 350 – Separations
– over 75% of the production costs for chemicals/synthetic materials
ChE 442 – Chemical Kinetics
– reaction rates, enzymes, etc.
ChE 443 – Viscous Flow
– flow through pipes, etc.
ChE 444 – Unit Operations
– components in a typical manufacturing facility
ChE 445/446 – Molecular Transport Processes
– diffusion vs. heat
ChE 460 – Process Control
– automation
ChE 480 – Plant Design
– putting it all together…
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ChE 120 – Introduction to Chemical Engineering
Mass and energy balances (neither can be created or destroyed)
CH2CH3
CH CH2
D
-H2
new approach
traditional method
In
Process
Out
Hong U. Wong (USC STAR Program)
and B.J. Gill (Merit Research Scholar)
ChE 330 – Thermodynamics
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Total energy (E) of a system:
E = K.E. + P.E. + U
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Thermodynamics is
concerned with internal
energy changes
Kinetic Energy (K.E.) – velocity of the center of mass
Potential Energy (P.E.) – location of the center of mass
Internal Energy (U) – associated with molecular motions,
»
interactions, and bonds in the system
Frink: And these should give you the
grounding you'll need in thermodynamics,
hypermathematics, and of course
microcalifragilistics.
Homer: Look, I just wanna know how to
invent things...tell me!
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Customizing your degree
ChE students may select an “emphasis” in a particular field
(biochemical, environmental, and petroleum engineering, polymer science)
Most students take advantage of this opportunity
Biochemical Engineering and Nanotechnology are the most popular emphases
100%
80%
Emphasis of
ChE Students
Environmental
Polymer Science
Petroleum
Nanotechnology
Biochemical
ChE
60%
40%
20%
0%
1
2
‘01
‘02
3
‘03
4
5
‘04
‘05
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Nanotechnology Option
CHE 487 Nanotechnology and Nanoscale Engineering Through Chemical Processes
Focus: Chemical engineering fundamentals and engineering science
Topics: Properties of materials on the nanometer scale, probes capable of visualizing
matter on these length scales, techniques of processing nanoscale materials.
CHE 491 Nanotechnology Research for Undergraduates
Focus: Experimental learning
Topics: Individual research for the completion of the degree project, to be taken during
both semesters in the senior year.
MASC 350 Design, Synthesis and Processing of Engineering Materials
Focus: Engineering science (top-down approach to nanotechnology)
Topics: Structure, properties, synthesis, and design of metallic, ceramic, polymeric,
electronic, composite, nanostructured and biomaterials; microfabrication.
CHEM 453 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
Focus: Fundamental (bottom-up approach to nanotechnology)
Topics: Atomic and molecular structure, bonding, coordination compounds, transition
and nontransition metals, magnetic and optical properties, crystal field theory.
Nanotechnical Electives
EE/MASC 438L Processing for Microelectronics
Focus: Technical (microelectronics)
Topics: Applications and electrical evaluation of selected processes in microfabrication.
-orCHE 489 Biochemical Engineering
Focus: Technical (bionanotechnology)
Topics: Biological and biochemical processes and materials, separation/purification
of biological products; proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids.
-orCHE 463L Introduction to Transport Processes in Porous Media
Focus: Technical (nanomaterials)
Topics: Single- and multi-phase flow though porous media; diffusion and heat transfer.
Materials
Hard
Soft
Nanocrystals,
Properties
probes
Processing
Q-dots
micelles, polymers,
proteins
colloids
composites
TEM, SEM, AFM
DLS
ordering, packing, nano-templating,
chemical kinetics
dispersion polym.,
nano-separations
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Nanotechnology “Degree Projects”
NSF-DUE-0633372 “A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education”, PI: C. Ted Lee
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Nano-module #1: Synthesis of Gold
gold nanoparticles
“Q-dots”
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Degree Projects for all Options
Core CHE
Course
CHE 120: Mass
Balance
Nanotechnology
CHE 330:
Thermodynamics
CHE 350:
Separations
CHE 442:
Chemical
Kinetics
CHE 445: Heat
Transfer
Synthesize
nanoparticles
Biochemical
Engineering
Grow E. coli
cells
Polymer
Science
Perform
polymerizations
Examine
nanoparticle
interactions
Fractionate
nanoparticles
based on size
Investigate
nanoparticle
catalyst
Thermal
conductivity of
nanocolloids
Protein-protein,
protein-ligand
interactions
Recover viable
proteins from
cells
Examine
enzymatic
catalyst
Thermal
denaturation of
proteins
Determination
of the -solvent
conditions
Separation of
monomer from
polymer
Study emulsion
polymerization
reactions
Thermal
conductivity of
polymer solns
Petroleum
Engineering
Fractionate ncomponent
feeds
Aliphatic and
aromatic
interactions
Separations
based on
volatility (GC)
Using petro
chems. in rxns
(combustion)
Heat transfer in
fuels
combustion
Environmental
Engineering
Investigate sidereactions of
contaminants
Partitioning of
contaminants
from org. to aq.
Ultra-separation
of contaminants
(~ ppm, ppb)
Rxn rates in
VOC vs. ecosolvents
“Micro” global
warming, UV
and O3 removal
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Conclusions
• ChE is not just chemical engineering
• Graduates go to work in many diverse areas
• A broad range of scientific and engineering topics are covered in
the curriculum, making ChE grads highly desired (and making
the curriculum increasingly difficult to teach)
• ChE students at USC can further fine tune there degrees with
an academic emphasis
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Questions?
1. Do your own experiences as a learner influence your teaching
approaches when you teach? In what way?
2. “Critical reflection” is described as “a deliberate, consistent, systematic
effort to uncover assumptions”: As you reflect on your teaching, what
might have been erroneous assumptions that, upon critical reflection,
needed your attention regarding either the effectiveness of a teaching
approach or one aspect of student learning?
3. What type of student feedback do you find most helpful to your own
critical reflection and, thus, your assessment about your teaching?
4. Research has shown that College teaching should not be an isolating
profession: critical reflection about teaching requires a community of
peers; it’s a social process: one needs peer feedback and emotional
support. Do you agree? Why?